Championship stars
The Championship is regularly praised for its drama and entertainment value, but there's plenty of quality below England's top flight too.
In this slideshow, we pick out 10 players from the second tier who really should be gracing the Premier League...
Tammy Abraham
Still only 21, Abraham burst onto the scene in 2016/17 when he scored 19 Championship goals for Bristol City on loan from Chelsea. That was enough to earn him a promotion to the Premier League with Swansea, but the striker failed to build on a strong start and netted only five goals in 31 appearances.
The youngster has rediscovered his scoring touch back in the second tier, though, striking 11 times in 14 league outings for Aston Villa, his latest temporary employers. Only Lewis Grabban and Neal Maupay have scored more Championship goals this term.
Joe Allen
When Stoke ended a decade's stay in the top tier, it seemed incomprehensible that Allen would stay put in the Potteries. The Welshman had been selected in Euro 2016's Team of the Tournament and had 132 appearances for Liverpool to his name, so it came as a surprise when he signed a new four-year contract at Stoke in June.
Allen is now 28 and in the theoretical prime of his career. If Stoke fail to win promotion this season, the midfielder will surely re-join the top flight anyway – he’s too good not to be playing at the highest level.
Harvey Barnes
Another young loanee pulling up trees in the EFL, Barnes hasn't yet turned 21 but looks set for a long and successful career at the top. A product of the Leicester academy and currently on loan at West Brom, the attacking midfielder has seven goals and three assists so far in 2018/19.
His impressive performances won't have gone unnoticed at the King Power Stadium; it was reported earlier in the season that Claude Puel may look to bring Barnes back to the King Power Stadium in January. Either way, the 20-year-old’s future certainly doesn’t lie in the Championship.
Jack Butland
Jordan Pickford may now be England's undisputed No.1, but going into the World Cup it was a straight fight for the position between Butland and the Everton man. The former has slipped further down the pecking order since the summer, with Gareth Southgate warning that he’s unlikely to challenge for the starting spot while he remains in the Championship.
That warning, together with Butland’s ability, means he’s highly unlikely to be plying his trade in the second flight in 2019/20. The only question that remains is whether he’ll be keeping goal for Stoke or another side in the Premier League next season.
Jack Grealish
If it weren’t for Daniel Levy’s infamous parsimony, Grealish may already be a Premier League – and Champions League – player. Tottenham’s failure to agree a deal with Aston Villa in the summer extended the midfielder’s stay at Villa Park for another season at least, but it’s hard to see Grealish spending any longer outside the Premier League.
The 23-year-old’s talent has been clear for some time now, but he’s taken his performances to another level in the last 18 months. If Dean Smith’s men are to win promotion this term, they’ll need their creator-in-chief to continue in his current vein of form.
Ahmed Hegazi
West Brom may have finished bottom of the Premier League last term, but a centre-back pairing of Jonny Evans and Hegazi was arguably stronger than most teams outside the big six. Indeed, the Baggies conceded fewer goals than eighth-placed Everton in 2017/18, and Evans duly avoided the drop by signing for Leicester in the summer.
Hegazi surprisingly stayed put, however, and he’s since proven that he’s far too good for the Championship. Strong in the tackle and dominant in the air, the Egyptian has been integral to West Brom’s promotion push so far.
Pontus Jansson
This is the 15th consecutive season which Leeds have spent outside the Premier League, but under Marcelo Bielsa there’s a growing belief that this could be their year. The Argentinian is the fourth manager Jansson has played under at Elland Road, and the towering defender has been ever-present under all of them.
The 27-year-old Sweden international is a dependable figure who’s just as comfortable man-marking a burly forward as he is playing in Bielsa's intense and technical system. Expect Premier League clubs to swoop should Leeds again miss out on promotion this campaign.
Mason Mount
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is currently experiencing how difficult it can be to make it in the first team at Chelsea, so the fact that Mount is being spoken of as a future Blues starter shows how gifted he is.
Currently on loan at Derby, the 19-year-old has dazzled under the tutelage of Chelsea legend Frank Lampard this season. The midfielder was named Vitesse Arnhem’s Player of the Year in 2017/18, and has transferred his Eredivisie form to the Championship, helping Derby mount (sorry) yet another play-off push.
Jay Rodriguez
It's hard not to reflect on Rodriguez's career and imagine an alternative reality. What if he hadn't suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury just months after his first (and only) England cap? What if he hadn't missed the entire 2014/15 season as a result, as his Southampton team-mates went on to bigger and better things?
Sadly we'll never know, but Rodriguez is now making up for lost time at West Brom. The forward already has nine goals and two assists this campaign, having also been one of their few bright sparks last season. Rodriguez will turn 30 next summer, but the Premier League isn't beyond him.
Ollie Watkins
Watkins has enjoyed a steady but impressive rise during his budding career. After coming through the ranks at Exeter, the 22-year-old broke through during the 2015/16 season with nine goals in 22 matches from his position on the left wing.
An even better campaign followed as Watkins won the EFL Young Player of the Year prize – previously bestowed upon Gareth Bale and Dele Alli – and Brentford duly came calling. He made the step up from League Two to the Championship seamlessly, and rumours abound that top-flight clubs are watching with keen interest.
